In a piece last week on NMFC.com.au, we detailed how the contested possession and scoring from stoppages had played a large part in determining the winner in each of the first five rounds.
At Patersons Stadium on Friday night, North lost the contested ball count and only broke even in scoring from stoppages.
| Round 6 | Points from stoppages | Contested possessions |
| North Melbourne | 21 | 134 |
| Fremantle | 22 | 146 |
| Differential | -1 | -12 |
The natural question arising from those sets of numbers is how North was able to flip the script. One of the answers was blunting Fremantle’s forward forays.
The Dockers’ fast start in the first term led to the first four goals of the game from 10 inside 50’s. After quarter time they scored four more goals from a total of 45 inside 50’s.
Of the 8.9 Fremantle scored (four rushed behinds) the majority of the misses came from distance. Six of the nine behinds were from outside 40 metres out. While five of those were from what Champion Data classifies as the middle of the ground, the distance played a large part in the misses.
When the misses are charted and compared to the league average, Fremantle’s inaccuracy becomes much easier to explain and a credit to the North defensive efforts.
Top picture – League average
Bottom picture – Fremantle’s scoring against North Melbourne
North was also able to capitalise on Fremantle’s turnovers with 53 of its 74 points coming from its opponent’s mistakes.
In his Definitive Preview, Scott Barby hinted that Fremantle could be ripe for the picking in this area.
“As for the Dockers they’ve proved to be equally as susceptible on the counter so far this season and lead the AFL for turnovers in defensive midfield. In Round 5 against Sydney they were +6 in turnovers by foot.”
In the process, North became just the fourth side to score more than 50 points from turnovers against Fremantle in the last 12 months and notched its highest total for the season.
| North Melbourne | Total points from turnovers |
| Round 6 | 53 |
| Round 5 | 51 |
| Round 2 | 49 |
Another key point was the Kangaroos’ comeback from an early 26-point deficit. It marks the second occasion this season the side has battled back to win after trailing by at least 20 points.
It’s perhaps the most underrated point of North’s improvement so far in 2014. In the last two seasons, North only came back from more than 20 points to win on two occasions.
